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Florida sues OpenAI
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on Monday, alleging the company knowingly released and aggressively marketed ChatGPT while concealing serious risks, including offering instructions to children considering suicide and helping suspects plot crimes.
Uthmeier said during a news conference, “Today, we announced the first-in-the-nation state-led lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO, Sam Altman,” and the complaint references two separate shootings where alleged gunmen were reported to have asked ChatGPT questions while planning their crimes.
The lawsuit also cites a criminal investigation Uthmeier opened in April into whether ChatGPT offered advice to a gunman who killed two people and wounded six others last year at Florida State University, and it points to another case where prosecutors said a man charged with killing two University of South Florida doctoral students asked ChatGPT what would happen if a human body was put in a garbage bag and thrown in a dumpster.
OpenAI responded that “ChatGPT is a general-purpose tool used by hundreds of millions of people every day for legitimate purposes,” and said it works to strengthen safeguards to detect harmful intent, limit misuse, and respond appropriately when safety risks arise.
Uthmeier’s accusations
In the civil case, Florida accuses OpenAI and Altman of prioritizing speed to market and commercial gain over user safety, and it seeks to hold Altman personally liable for alleged harms to Florida residents.
Uthmeier told reporters, “People are getting hurt, parents are getting deceived, and they need to pay for it,” and CNBC reported the 83-page complaint seeks to force OpenAI to comply with obligations under the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The lawsuit alleges ChatGPT aided and abetted mass shooters in “deadly rampages,” driven vulnerable people to suicide, harmed users’ critical thinking skills, and caused minors to become addicted to the tool, which CNBC said “feigns human compassion.”
OpenAI, in a statement, said it built safety for minors directly into its products, including “a more protective experience specifically for minors,” an age prediction tool, defaulting users whose age is not confident into that experience, and giving parents tools to monitor kids’ use of AI.
What’s at stake
Florida’s complaint frames the stakes as ongoing harm to Floridians and asks for accountability through civil penalties and court orders, while also tying the allegations to a broader pattern of legal action against AI companies.
“Florida sues OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, claiming company concealed serious risks of ChatGPT MIAMI (AP) — The state of Florida filed a lawsuit against OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman on Monday, claiming the company knowingly released and aggressively marketed ChatGPT to the public while concealing serious risks, including offering instructions to children considering suicide and helping suspects plot crimes”
NPR reported that the lawsuit alleges OpenAI created “a dangerous public nuisance,” and it described a footnote in the complaint that follows a screenshot from OpenAI’s website saying ChatGPT was “built with safety in mind” with the two-word sentence “Not so.”
The lawsuit also points to specific harms involving minors, including the state’s references to Nina Vasan, a psychiatrist and assistant professor at Stanford Medicine, and to Adam Raine, a 16-year-old boy who killed himself last year after extensive conversations with ChatGPT.
OpenAI disputed the premise of the suit and said it believes minors “need significant protection,” adding that it is “committed to getting this right,” while the BBC reported Florida’s civil action comes alongside the state’s criminal investigation into whether ChatGPT played a part in the murder of two people during a mass shooting at Florida State University last year.
